Netscape 6.1 Beta Showcases Mozilla 0.9.1

Despite recent rumors to the contrary, Netscape has not left the browser business just yet. The first beta of Netscape version 6.1 arrived today, based on the latest Mozilla 0.9.1 milestone. Mozilla has come a long way in the year since Netscape 6.0 made its debut, with improvements in stability, interface, rendering, and perhaps most importantly - speed. Early reports have proven extremely favorable, but Netscape warns the preview "is intended for advanced end-users and testers to test and send feedback."

With version 6.1, Netscape aims to correct many of the issues from 6.0 that drew harsh criticism and only contributed to the browser's sinking market share. The preview features new search capabilities, improved bookmark management, new tabs for My Sidebar, added history management, a new download interface, support for "emoticons" in e-mail, instant messenger access throughout the program, and a drop-down auto-complete option.

Netscape 6.1 also sports the new 'Modern' theme, adding simplicity through a streamlined interface. The browser is fully skinnable howerver, and additional themes may be downloaded from Netscape.com.

Netscape afficionados may download the first beta of 6.1 for Windows or Linux via FileForum. Test it out, send in your feedback, and post the results below.